Laptop Questions

This is a discussion on Laptop Questions within the Tech Board forums, part of the Community Boards category; Intro: Hi, I hope this is the correct place to put this at, apologies if not. ok? so I'm currently ...

Laptop Questions

Intro: Hi, I hope this is the correct place to put this at, apologies if not. ok? so I'm currently looking for a laptop and I was looking for different opinions. So here are a few things im looking for/interested in....

1.) Im a college student, majoring in Computer Science(C++)

2.) I like to watch movies/videos, listen to music, download things, Im kinda interest in mmorpgs nun with graphics like World of Warcraft. So i'm looking for something with good speed and a decent video(graphic?) card.

3.) Umm..i have a 80GB external drive (aka usb) so i put most of my things on there music, pics, reports, what have you. So im looking for something with space but not too much when/if i dnt really need it.

4) I know i dont need a huge laptop so im looking for maybe a 14-15 inch screen? No loud colors. And The RAM, processor and all that is the main reason im even asking anyone for help because I dont really get what they are or which is best. Im assuming they're dealing with speed?

5.) im tryin to keep my budget at $400.....and $500 only if its something i need. Also im interested in these brands...'toshiba", "dell", "gateway", maybe"HP"

Thats all i can think of for now, I want you all to understand that I have been lookin on my own for like the past month or so and im still unsure of many things. I want my first laptop to be...up to my standards, something that'll bring me more joy than stress so im trying to be very careful. This place seems very helpful so this is why I came to you guys and im also looking in other places, i dont want to come off as being just lazy so apologies if thats how it seems.

4) And The RAM, processor and all that is the main reason im even asking anyone for help because I dont really get what they are or which is best. Im assuming they're dealing with speed?

A comp sci student, needing to ask about cpu and ram? What exactly do they teach in comp sci? How to bake a cake?

2.) I like to watch movies/videos, listen to music, download things, Im kinda interest in mmorpgs nun with graphics like World of Warcraft. So i'm looking for something with good speed and a decent video(graphic?) card.

I can run Wow at maximum settings with the integrated graphics in my 3 year old machine. Any modern motherboard with onboard graphics should be able to run Wow easily. Wow requires directx 9.0c graphics, which is about 6-7 years old. All modern graphics cards and onboard graphics are directx 10+.

Kinda weird that NONE of your spec requirements have anything at all to do with your "studies".

What do you want to hear as far as requirements for Computer Science? For all we know he's just starting out and his requirements have very little, if at all, to do with hardware. The other part of #1 on his list is that he's a college student which could imply that he's in a dorm... which basically explains the rest. The kid just wants the best laptop for his money, I don't know why everyone is picking on him.

If all they need (not want) is a reasonable platform for writing student C++ homework assignments on, the $100 + ebay + Ubuntu will do the job marvellously.

With the added advantage that people will be less likely to "borrow" it, either temporarily or permanently.

Otherwise, just blow the budget on whatever system you fancy. There will never be a shortage of people on both sides of the fence saying "xyz" is great / sucks, to the point anyone asking the question is no wiser than when they started.

But FWIW, I tend to go for mid-price on a given spec point. You get better components than typically used by the cheap end of the market, but you're not paying a premium just for the "name" on the front from the corporate name brands.

Unless you're some fashion air-head, and the name on the front is worth every penny no matter how crap the underlying product is, in which case all bets are off.

Right, but at what point was the laptop meant to be for his studies and ONLY for his studies? When you go out to buy a car all you really need is two seats and a steering wheel, but Audis and BMWs are still getting sold every day.

He listed some very clear expectations for him computer... one of which was his Comp Sci degree... which, yeah, only requires the basic requirements of a computer... but unfortunately, he does want to do other things with his day other than study for computer science... I don't apologize for not spending all of my waking hours reading technical docs and man pages. So give every requirement (or if you prefer "desire"), you'd have to come up with something better than a 386 with 1MB of RAM. ... and while I agree that there are plenty of fanboys out there... there is certainly going to be a consensus as to what would be the bare minimum to get the job done.

As for what it's worth, it seems clear given his budget that he's not out looking for state-of-the-art components... in fact, he'd be hard-pressed meeting all of his demands at that price range.

I recommend you look on Tiger Direct to browse computers, and Google to try to find a better price after you find one.

You'll probably want a dual core processor, it makes a big difference. At least 2GB of RAM(DDR2 or DDR3). The HDD space is a personal decision. Take the amount you think you'll need, and double it, get an HDD with at least that much space. Also consider battery life, and if you are going to need it to last through a class or more.

Ok I decided to go with Toshiba because it seem its mention as one of the better laptops out there and i wanted to decrease my search range. The laptops above are the ones i been checking out and the tech specs im not too familiar with even being a cpu science major.
Basically what im asking is could you guys check out a few of the specs and give me some insight on which computer would run better for long periods of times/might last the longest(both battery even though i can see for myself but mainly overall lifespan) and so on.
True that I want a computer for entertainment, but I wanna make sure im getting whats needed career wise out of my computer(i know there are C++ programs that can be downloaded) so if there are anything that comes wit a laptop that can help C++ i would like to look into that. and hopefully i'll have a better cpu by the time i graduate.

Thanks to those who actually did give me some help instead of making me feel dumb.

> and hopefully i'll have a better cpu by the time i graduate.
If you mean you plan on upgrading a laptop, think again. It's sometimes possible, but you, as a hardware noob , may not want to try it. I recommend getting something that will last until you can afford a new computer again(~2-3 years probably).

I'm not going to recommend an actual computer. If you bought it and it sucked, it would be reasonable to partially blame me. It's a person policy of mine, not to put my ass on the line.

I do have one more thing to add to my cpu recommendation, make sure it has a core speed(the measurement with GHz on the end) of at least 2Ghz.

Ok, you've narrowed it down to Toshiba... not a bad choice. At one time I was caring for more than a hundred of them on various contracts. So here's what I think you should know...

Toshiba's AMD machines are definately more stable (and cheaper) than their Intel cousins.

These machines are memory fussy. Be very careful if you decide to upgrade.

The power plugs on Toshibas could be mounted better. It's not uncommon for some heavy handed (and not entirely sober) sort to push the dc jack right down inside the case, necessitating a service call that involves copious amounts of crazy glue to fix.

Toshiba display quality is just an inch short of flat out amazing, but running them at full brightness will considerably shorten battery life.

Toshiba tends to charge batteries a bit slowly. It increases battery life (by years) but it does delay the charge, carry cycle a bit.

With all the Toshibas I had out there, we only scrapped 2 of them. Both had been dropped on concrete floors.

This is the specific laptop that I have chosen and im looking for some input on it. Im hoping this will last me awhile and that its the best fro the price.
I also noticed that there are "series" but alot of stuff i dont understand mainly because i dont know what they are. I try to google them but it just confuses me more, for instance these additional features:

Battery pack = the more "cells" it has, the bigger the battery, the long you can run your laptop on battery.
Dolby is a sound system. It probably means your card can handle dolby audio.
Face recognition is what it says - it can recognize your face. What it's used for, I don't know.
Memory Card Reader - it can read memory cards, such as SD cards.
Numeric 10-key pad means it has a numeric keyboard to the right of your qwerty keyboard. Not common on all laptops due to space issues. But it's present on pretty much all external keyboards.
Multi-touch basically means the hardware can recognize two or more touches on your keypad at once. This usually translates to some gestures for zooming, scrolling, etc.
Webcam and mic is what it says. A webcamera and a microphone. Allows you to do video chats with your friends easily without external accessories.
The rest are mostly vendor specific technologies. I don't what they do.

This is the specific laptop that I have chosen and im looking for some input on it. Im hoping this will last me awhile and that its the best fro the price.
I also noticed that there are "series" but alot of stuff i dont understand mainly because i dont know what they are. I try to google them but it just confuses me more, for instance these additional features:

For the extra features, your best bet is to have the salesmaker point a finger and say "this" for each... a lot of this stuff is just software bundled with the computer, most of it can be removed and it will actually work better. The good ones are the card reader, keypad and extra life battery pack... those are nice features to have.